


welcome home

by riverdalenerdlol



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Betty's and FBI agent, Cuddles, F/M, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Jughead's a published author, Mild Smut, Nightmares, Toffee the Cat, Trauma, anything b/a doesn't exist, because I say so, bughead - Freeform, everything b/a canon is all a dream, it don't exist, mentions of Betty's time being kidnapped, mentions of trauma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-19
Updated: 2021-02-19
Packaged: 2021-03-15 17:33:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,437
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29562645
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/riverdalenerdlol/pseuds/riverdalenerdlol
Summary: This isn’t the first time Jughead wakes up screaming in the middle of the night. It definitely isn’t uncommon for either one of them.He sits up, his fingers tangled in his inky hair as he grips it desperately. His hands move from his hair, to his face where he feels the cold sweat under his fingertips, to his chest where he focuses on feeling the thrum of his heartbeat below his palm. Soon, his hands find something else… or rather, something else finds his hands.Betty, her eyes barely open, has turned toward him. Jughead looks down between them, seeing her soft hands in his. Her thumbs stroke the backs of his hands sweetly.“It’s okay,” she mutters, her voice groggy with sleep. “I’ve got you.” Betty says the words so confidently. He knows they’ve said them to each other a thousand times, but they don’t stop being comforting.Her hands come up toward him, then she has his jaw cupped in her warm palms. She smells like his body wash and something sweet. Ever so gently, Betty pulls him down. He’s met with her eyes opening wider so he can see her glowing green irises.“What is it?” she asks softly. “What happened?”OR: B*rchie is just a nightmare
Relationships: Betty Cooper/Jughead Jones
Comments: 17
Kudos: 94





	welcome home

**Author's Note:**

> This is a giant fuck you to the Riverdale writers. 
> 
> Give me my Bughead endgame or give me death.

This isn’t the first time Jughead wakes up screaming in the middle of the night. It definitely isn’t uncommon for either one of them. 

He sits up, his fingers tangled in his inky hair as he grips it desperately. His hands move from his hair, to his face where he feels the cold sweat under his fingertips, to his chest where he focuses on feeling the thrum of his heartbeat below his palm. Soon, his hands find something else… or rather, something else finds his hands. 

Betty, her eyes barely open, has turned toward him. Jughead looks down between them, seeing her soft hands in his. Her thumbs stroke the backs of his hands sweetly. 

“It’s okay,” she mutters, her voice groggy with sleep. “I’ve got you.” Betty says the words so confidently. He knows they’ve said them to each other a thousand times, but they don’t stop being comforting. 

Her hands come up toward him, then she has his jaw cupped in her warm palms. She smells like his body wash and something sweet. Ever so gently, Betty pulls him down. He’s met with her eyes opening wider so he can see her glowing green irises. 

“What is it?” she asks softly. “What happened?” 

Through all the trauma they’d endured - in high school and life after college - she’s still here. Betty had more emotional scars than he did, yet he still finds that she’s as gentle and caring as ever. She was kidnapped while training for the FBI not too long ago. 

**\---**

_The FBI had informed Jughead of his missing girlfriend almost as soon as they noticed she was in danger. He was her emergency contact, after all. She was gone for two weeks. Two long, painful weeks._

_When they found her, the FBI picked Jughead up at their apartment and took him to where she was. He jumped out of their van, quickly followed by an agent or two. They helped him get past the crime scene tape and closer to the ambulance._

_She had one of those bulky shock blankets wrapped around her and there was an IV tube that disappeared beneath it. Betty’s blonde hair was dirty and matted, and her skin was scratched and pale. There was a female agent sitting with her and EMTs were off to the side. One stepped up when Jughead tried to approach Betty._

_“Sir, I’m going to have to ask you to stop,” the woman says. “She’s in a vulnerable state.”_

_“I’m her emergency contact, not an agent,” Jughead clarifies. “I’d like to see my girlfriend. I know the drill.”_

_They had both dealt with hospitals and ambulances so much that they knew how to handle themselves around EMTs and doctors._

_Jughead climbs up into the ambulance. Betty’s laying in the stretcher. As soon as she spots him from the corner of her eye, she reaches for him. Jughead hugs her and she cries into his shoulder. The EMTs finish what they’re doing and give them a few moments of space before they go to the hospital._

_He rides in the ambulance with her to the hospital. Betty doesn’t let go of his hand._

_Jughead stays in the hospital room with her, along with Alice (who he called eventually)._

_He takes her home eventually, caring for her as long as it takes for her to recover._

**\---**

Betty still has the _physical_ scars from that. She still has very vivid nightmares about it. But here she is, comforting him instead. 

Jughead supposes it’s his turn to accept her comfort. 

“Nightmare,” he says. 

“Not anything from high school, I hope,” Betty jokes. 

“No, no,” he whispers. “Uh… you had sex with Archie? In his shower.” 

Betty’s quiet for a moment before she bursts out laughing. She stops herself pretty quickly. 

“I’m sorry, Jug, that was rude of me,” Betty tells him. “I just think it’s hilarious that you think I’d ever do that.” Her thumbs stroke his cheeks slowly. 

“But… you kissed Archie when we were together in high school,” Jughead says. 

“No, I didn’t,” she replies, confused. 

“What about that band practice when we were doing _Hedwig?”_

“It got cancelled,” Betty reminds him. “We were fighting and Archie and Veronica were fighting so we just cancelled it. Remember?” 

He does remember now that she mentions it. 

“Must have been quite a dream you had.” 

“But… I found out about the kiss and broke up with you and then I didn’t see you for seven years and--” 

“Juggie,” Betty says softly. “None of that happened.” 

“What about when you got kidnapped?” 

“No, that definitely happened,” she says. “We did long distance in college. It was a pain, but we did it,” Betty assures him, her hands moving into his hair. 

She starts massaging his scalp gently, getting him to calm as she continues to tell her about their past. 

“And I was there at your book release… and you were there for me in the hospital once the FBI tracked me down and rescued me,” Betty continues, her voice sweet as honey. 

“I remember,” he whispers, the ghost of a smile appearing on his face. “Keep going, Betts.” 

She giggles softly before continuing. 

“You ended up getting me a cat,” Betty whispers. “So she could keep me company when you were out on your book tour. I named her Toffee,” she adds. “She loves sitting in your lap and trying to get up on your computer when you’re working. She hates it when you leave your boots untied and lets you know by swatting at your feet.” 

Jughead chuckles, letting his head rest on Betty’s chest. 

“And us?” he asks. “What about us?” 

“Jug, you asked me to _marry you_ a few days ago,” Betty whispers, kissing his forehead gently. 

Her lips on his skin warms his heart. 

“So… you didn’t kiss Archie?” he asks. “And you didn’t have sex with him in his shower?” 

_“No,_ Jughead,” Betty replies firmly. “I wouldn’t do that unless something was wrong with me in the head.” She hugs him closer. “How many times do I need to tell you that I choose you?” 

“I’m sorry,” he whispers. “I don’t know what’s gotten into me.” 

They have talked before about Jughead’s insecurities when it came to their relationship. He’d gone his entire life thinking he wasn’t worth much… then he climbed up and into Betty’s window and from there she made him feel like he was the only person in the world. Jughead had always subconsciously been afraid that Betty would ditch him and go back to Archie if presented the opportunity. 

She never did. 

Betty had always chosen him. 

The night of his book release, Betty worked her ass off all day so that she could enjoy his celebrations with him. She showed up in Iowa for every one of his birthday weekends during college, even when he told her not to go out of her way. Betty _saved his life_ after his classmates tried to kill him in the woods during their senior year of high school. 

Just a few days ago she chose him to spend the rest of her life with. 

“I will always love you, Jughead Jones,” Betty whispers, rolling them over so he ends up on his back. “You’re the only man for me.” 

Jughead tilts his chin up to kiss Betty sweetly. 

“I was in the shower with him, you say?” she asks, raising her eyebrows suggestively. Jughead nods. “How about… _we_ do it in the shower instead?” Betty takes his lips with hers passionately, then kisses a trail to the opening of his ear. 

He doesn’t expect a challenge. 

“I bet you can do it better than he did,” she taunts. 

Minutes later, Jughead has Betty shoved against the soaked wall of the shower. Her nails rake against the muscles in his back. Her hips writhe against his. Her moans echo, though at the same time they’re whispers. Hot water streams down on them as Betty kisses his neck. 

It’s so intimate even though others would call it rough. They’re both so desperate for each other that it’s almost sloppy. That’s the way they like it.

Jughead takes her bottom lip in his mouth just as he hits the spot he knows she likes so much. 

“I will never love anyone like I love you, Juggie,” she promises in his ear, then kisses right behind it. 

Betty sends him over the edge, then she crashes with him. 

  
“I love you,” he mutters against her wet skin, beginning to kiss up the column of her neck. “I love you. I love you. _I love you.”_

**Author's Note:**

> At the end of the day, Barfie is just FWB
> 
> Betty can't do that with Jughead because it could never be FWB and that's where Bughead is supreme


End file.
